New Leaf Nominations for April 2019 • The Way I Heard It: Retellings

[Victoria]

Originally Posted by CRussel

I've run out of tickets, but I thought I'd toss a book out there for consideration of those who might be interested. We've already got the Josephine Tey historical reconstruction, The Daughter of Time, but there's a more modern hospital bed mystery that I've quite enjoyed, The Wench is Dead, an excellent Inspector Morse novel written by Colin Dexter.

I’ve run out of tickets too, but I’ll definitely follow up with the book for myself. The Morse series is one of my absolute favourite BBC productions, but haven’t tried any of Dexter’s books. Thanks for the recommendation!

[CRussel]

Ah, they're delightful books, and I picked up the full set during the Kobo 90% coupon days. . The first one is a bit weak, but they start picking up after that.

ETA: Unfortunately, there are only three of them that are available in unabridged versions at Audible.com, all read by the superb Frederick Davidson (real name, David Case). AudibleUK has a full set, but read by Samuel West, an unknown quantity to me, and these also appear to be the ones at Audible.ca, though I don't have an account there.

[issybird]

I'm quite surprised that so far, none of the nominations has been a retelling of a myth or Shakespeare! Among others, I was sure we'd have a nomination of one of the Madeline Miller retellings. I know Circe was a non-starter, but there was Achilles.

Another retelling I read based on a MR rec within the past year and which was a lot of fun was The Henchmen of Zenda, the Prisoner of Zenda from the POV of one of Black Michael's underlings, and like Achilles, is told from a gay perspective. But among other things, it would have been too soon after The Scarlet Pimpernel for another turn of the twentieth century romance, or even a riff on one.

[CRussel]

I thought about Achilles, but decided to just give nods to other books that had already been nominated. I just wasn't confident enough that I'd actually enjoy it. Though I admit, I was expecting someone to nominate it.

[Victoria]

Prisoner of Zenda looks like fun too! Next month, I’m going to keep some of my powder dry, instead of blowing it all on my first day�� . But there’s always the TBR

[Bookpossum]

I’m on the train back to Melbourne right now, and will be able to check availability of books in my library once I’m home, so will use my other two tickets then.

[Bookpossum]

I’m on the train back to Melbourne right now, and will be able to check availability of books in my library once I’m home, so will use my other two tickets then.

I don’t know why this went up twice!

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by Bookpossum

I’m on the train back to Melbourne right now, and will be able to check availability of books in my library once I’m home, so will use my other two tickets then.

Well, we've got until Wednesday, so go for it!

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by issybird

I'm quite surprised that so far, none of the nominations has been a retelling of a myth or Shakespeare! Among others, I was sure we'd have a nomination of one of the Madeline Miller retellings. I know Circe was a non-starter, but there was Achilles.

I considered A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley, based on King Lear, but I wasn't interested in a farm setting.

[gmw]

Originally Posted by issybird

I'm quite surprised that so far, none of the nominations has been a retelling of a myth or Shakespeare! Among others, I was sure we'd have a nomination of one of the Madeline Miller retellings. I know Circe was a non-starter, but there was Achilles. [...]

As you know I was thinking about Madeline Miller's books, and I looked seriously at several Shakespeare retellings that I've never read: Catlady mentioned A Thousand Acres, but I also considered The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski and some of the "Hogarth Shakespeare" set.

I finally worked out I wasn't in the mood and started looking at fairytale retellings. I saw that Disney sponsored a series Once Upon a Time mostly by Cameron Dokey. The reviews looked a bit spotty and I thought the intended audience looked a bit too young so I kept looking.

I eventually came across a YA that spoke of the Chinese legend of Hua Mulan which sounded interesting to me, and the Wikipedia article linked directly to Maxine Hong Kingston.

Which is how I ended up so far from where I started ... and lost so many hours in reader's bliss looking at virtual book shelves.

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by gmw

Which is how I ended up so far from where I started ... and lost so many hours in reader's bliss looking at virtual book shelves.

Many months, that's the best part of the whole nomination process for me. This month, not so much, mostly because I've been so busy I took the easy way and just seconded books. I promise to do better next month.

[Bookworm_Girl]

Originally Posted by issybird

I'm quite surprised that so far, none of the nominations has been a retelling of a myth or Shakespeare! Among others, I was sure we'd have a nomination of one of the Madeline Miller retellings. I know Circe was a non-starter, but there was Achilles.

Another retelling I read based on a MR rec within the past year and which was a lot of fun was The Henchmen of Zenda, the Prisoner of Zenda from the POV of one of Black Michael's underlings, and like Achilles, is told from a gay perspective. But among other things, it would have been too soon after The Scarlet Pimpernel for another turn of the twentieth century romance, or even a riff on one.

As the person who suggested this category, the nominations have not been what I intended for them to be in order to be unique and think out of the box. Same old same old. I’m rather disappointed and don’t think that I’ll be contributing anything myself.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by Bookworm_Girl

As the person who suggested this category, the nominations have not been what I intended for them to be in order to be unique and think out of the box. Same old same old. I’m rather disappointed and don’t think that I’ll be contributing anything myself.

I'm sorry you feel that way. I know l put a lot of thought into it before my own nomination; I started thinking about it days in advance. The slate so far looks fine to me; frequently they're not what I expected but surprises are good, too. For example, I wouldn't have predicted The Left Hand of Darkness, but it's a classic I was glad to read.

[gmw]

Originally Posted by Bookworm_Girl

As the person who suggested this category, the nominations have not been what I intended for them to be in order to be unique and think out of the box. Same old same old. I’m rather disappointed and don’t think that I’ll be contributing anything myself.

That's a shame.

I know the theme I suggested ("Out of this World") attracted absolutely nothing that was originally intended by the suggestion, but in my case it was funny rather than disappointing, because I'd gone off the idea by the time the theme showed up - so not even my own two nominations fit the original intention.


Edit: To be fair/accurate, darryl's partial nomination was what I had intended, but didn't make it to the vote.

[Bookpossum]

Originally Posted by Bookworm_Girl

As the person who suggested this category, the nominations have not been what I intended for them to be in order to be unique and think out of the box. Same old same old. I’m rather disappointed and don’t think that I’ll be contributing anything myself.

Like issybird, I too gave some thought to this, and had looked at some of the possibilities of the likes of Madeline Miller and some of the Hogarth Shakespeare. There was also Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys, but it isn't available as an ebook, at least with Kobo and so I assume not with Amazon either. Another possibility was Colm Tóibín's House of Names.

When considering a book to nominate, I take into account availability, price, and of course whether I think that other members of the Club might enjoy the book. I can't see much point in nominating a book that is unlikely to be interesting and/or enjoyable for other Club members.

I have to admit to feeling a bit taken aback by your comments, Bookworm_Girl, and I think it's a pity you aren't going to put in a nomination for the sort of book you thought we should have for this theme.